N. Korean leader calls for increased aerial combat posture amid tension over satellite launch

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un visiting the Air Force Command on the previous day on the occasion of the Day of Airmen, Dec. 1. Courtesy of North Korea's official Korea Central News Agency

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has called on the air force to enhance its combat posture to immediately respond to military threats by enemies, Pyongyang's state media reported Friday.

Kim made the remark during a visit to the Air Force Command on Thursday on the occasion of the Day of Airmen that fell on Nov. 29, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

The visit came amid fresh tension on the Korean Peninsula following the North's launch of a military spy satellite and its resumption of all military measures halted under a 2018 inter-Korean military agreement.

Photos carried by state media showed an oversized display screen on the floor of what appears to be the Air Force's operation command post.

On display screens installed at the wall were blurred images of the peninsula, part of Japan and Southeastern Asian nations as well as the Pacific Ocean.

North Korea did not specify whether those images were taken from the spy satellite that it launched on Nov. 21. But there is a possibility that those could be satellite photos or footage, given that words like "north latitude" or "Pyongyang time" are spotted on the displays.

Pyongyang has claimed the spy satellite has taken photos of major facilities and military installations in South Korea and the United States, including the White House and Pentagon. But the North has not released related satellite photos.

North's leader Kim Jong-un visiting the Air Force Command on the previous day on the occasion of the Day of Airmen, Dec. 1. Courtesy of North Korea's official Korea Central News Agency

At the command, Kim stressed the need for the Air Force to take the lead in modernizing the operational command system and beef up its combat readiness.

"He set forth operational and tactical policies arising in putting the air force on a regular combat posture and increasing its capabilities to fight a war to the full so as to counter any military provocation and threat of the enemy immediately and powerfully," the KCNA said in an English-language dispatch.

His remarks are seen as aimed at strengthening the combat readiness by North Korea's air force, which is viewed as relatively weak among its conventional forces.

North Korea's air force has a total of 1,570 aircraft, including 810 combat aircraft, according to South Korea's 2022 defense white paper.

The white paper said North Korea is pushing to bolster its air defense capability through the development and deployment of new surface-to-air missiles as its introduction of new combat aircraft is limited.

South Korea partially suspended the 2018 inter-Korean military tension reduction agreement last week in response to the satellite launch, condemned as a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions.

In a tit-for-tat, North Korea said it would restore all military measures halted under the military accord aimed at reducing cross-border tensions and preventing accidental clashes.

On Thursday, Kim also visited a regiment of the first division of the air force with his daughter, believed to be named Ju-ae, and watched a demonstration flight at an observation post, the KCNA said. (Yonhap)